Pakistan to overcome economic crisis with or without IMF: Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that Pakistan will overcome the economic crisis with or without the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While talking to a private news channel, Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan will not default with or without the IMF. He added that foreign powers are surprised that Pakistan does not default so far.

He claimed that former prime minister Imran Khan had destroyed the national economy after coming into power. He added that Imran Khan’s government got a $100 billion market from the previous PML-N government but it was destroyed and Pakistan had nearly defaulted.

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Dar said that IMF asked Pakistan to arrange $6 billion and a technical deal was signed to arrange $3 billion before and after the loan programme. He added that IMF MD had also confirmed that Pakistan will not default.

“We will try to avoid putting financial burden on common people in the next budget. We will bring discipline to the economy and resolve the economic issues. Pakistan has reserves worth $1,000 billion, hence, it should not compared to Sri Lanka.”

“We have to control our internal expenditures. The IMF programme will conclude on June 30,” said Dar.

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A few days ago, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar reiterated that ‘Pakistan will absolutely not default’ as the government was committed to overcome the prevailing economic challenges.

Addressing members of the business community at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Islamabad, the finance minister pointed out that Pakistan was passing through a challenging phase but the government’s economic team was working hard to overcome these challenges.

Commending his economic team for its ‘efforts and hard work’, Ishaq Dar noted that the country had recorded a current account surplus for the months of March and April at $750 million and $18m, respectively.

Referring to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme, the minister said Pakistan has completed all the technical formalities as well as prior actions, but unfortunately, “we are facing a structural delay in this regard”.